*Daliao Porcelain Mosaic

*Daliao Porcelain Mosaic

Nominating Unit: City of Shantou

The mosaic craftsmanship of the Xu’s family in Daliao Village, Chengtian Township, Chaonan district of City of Shantou is most representative. In 1906, the local craftsman Xu Shiquan hired Wu Dancheng, the acknowledged “mosaic king” to be his master. After he became masterful himself, he passed his skills down to his children and tribe fellows, and since then, the craftsmanship went on generation after generation, forming the unique Daliao porcelain mosaic. Now, it has come down to the fourth generation and has become an important branch of rarely-seen Chaoshan mosaic art.

Daliao porcelain mosaic uses all kinds of porcelain pieces, putting them together with inlaying, gluing and stacking techniques to form figures, birds, beasts, mountains, rivers, flowers, etc. The whole process includes four main procedures, namely model designing, skeleton making with steelworks, mould casting with cement and mortar, and porcelain piece inlaying. The inlaying skill is so delicate that the models it produces are colorful and lively, able to withstand time. Daliao Porcelain Mosaic adopts a wide range of subjects, featuring especially the widespread folklores, historical events and figures and combination of dragons, phoenixes, flowers and birds. “Zheng Chenggong”, a masterpiece made by Xu Meizhou, the second generation of the Xu family, has been collected by Beijing Museum. The third and fourth generations of the Xu family, Xu Hangen, Xu Hanliang, Xu Shaopeng were invited to make mosaic work for Shuang Lin Temple of Singapore, Ci Yun Pavilion of Hong Kong. “Dual Dragon With a Pearl”, “Peacock Ushering in Spring”, “Yang Xiang Fighting the Tiger to Rescue Her Father”, all these works of Xu Shaopeng, were collected by Ci Yun Pavilion and Liu Mingtong Museum. The representative works of Daliao Porcelain Mosaic also include “Four Heavenly Kings”, “Eight Immortals”, “Guanyin”, etc. In 2008, Daliao Porcelain Mosaic was enlisted into the list of the second batch of state-level intangible cultural heritage.(https://www.daowen.com)

Historically, Daliao Porcelain Mosaic has been used as ornaments on large architectures in Chaoshan, such as memorial halls, temples, etc. Its application is very restricted, hence has not been industrialized. With the passing away of elderly craftsmen, and the young craftsmen abandoning this trade under the impact of market economy, the preservation and transmission of this craftsmanship is in jeopardy, and urgent and effective measures are called for.